Editing Painted turtle (section)

===Mating===

[[File:Chrysemys picta dorsalis (aka).jpg|thumb|right|Male southern painted turtle shows his long front claws.]]
[[File:Painted turtle.jpg|thumb|Female painted turtle]]
The painted turtles mate in spring and fall in waters of {{convert|10|-|25|C|F|abbr=on|0}}.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|1989|p=202}} Males start [[Spermatogenesis|producing sperm]] in early spring, when they can bask to an internal temperature of {{convert|17|C|F|abbr=on|0}}.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=289}}{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=287}} Females begin their reproductive cycles <!-- Please do not wikilink to menstrual cycle as that is a mammalian process. Most of the sex articles in wiki are human or perhaps mammal descriptive. As of DEC2010, there was no suitable wikilink, so the simple term reproductive cycle was used. A red link is probably not a good idea either as people keep wanting to link to the inappropriate mammalian sex articles. Probably better to leave as is, is understandable, or just write an article on the sexual cycles of reptiles if you so choose. -->in mid-summer, and [[Ovulation#Ovulation|ovulate]] the following spring.<ref name="wcsu.edu-Reproduction" />

[[Courtship display|Courtship]] begins when a male follows a female until he meets her face-to-face.<ref name="sbaa.ca">{{cite web | url = http://www.sbaa.ca/projects.asp?cn=316 | title = Painted turtle research in Algonquin provincial park | access-date = 2010-09-17 | date = 2005 | publisher = The Friends of Algonquin Park| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011165743/http://sbaa.ca/projects.asp?cn=316 | archive-date = 2007-10-11 }}</ref> He then strokes her face and neck with his elongated front claws, a gesture returned by a receptive female. The pair repeat the process several times, with the male retreating from and then returning to the female until she swims to the bottom, where they [[copulation (zoology)|copulate]].<ref name="wcsu.edu-Reproduction" /><ref name="sbaa.ca" /> As the male is smaller than the female, he is not dominant.<ref name="sbaa.ca" /> Although not directly observed, evidence indicates that the male will inflict injury on the female in attempts of coercion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moldowan |first1=P.D. |last2=Brooks |first2=R.J. |last3=Litzgus |first3=J.D. |date=2020 |title=Demographics of injuries indicate sexual coercion in a population of Painted Turtles (''Chrysemys picta'') |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=269–278 |doi=10.1139/cjz-2019-0238 |s2cid=214093193 }}</ref> Males will use their tooth-like cusps on their beaks and their foreclaws during this act of coercion with the female.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moldowan |first1=Patrick D. |last2=Brooks |first2=Ronald J. |last3=Litzgus |first3=Jacqueline D. |title=Sex, shells, and weaponry: coercive reproductive tactics in the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |date=10 November 2020 |volume=74 |issue=12 |pages=142 |id={{ProQuest|2471612605}} |doi=10.1007/s00265-020-02926-w |doi-access=free }}</ref> The female stores [[sperm]], to be used for up to three [[clutch (eggs)|clutches]], in her [[Oviduct#Amniotes|oviducts]]; the sperm may remain viable for up to three&nbsp;years.{{sfn|Ernst|Lovich|2009|p=200}} A single clutch [[Superfecundation#Heteropaternal superfecundation|may have multiple fathers]].{{sfn|Ernst|Lovich|2009|p=200}}